Cheat Sheet of Champaign County: Executive

Resources:

What is the newly created County Executive Office? A general description from a recent N-G article summarized it well:

When Champaign County elects a full-time county executive next November it will become only the second county in Illinois with the office. As planned the elected executive would have broad powers, including the authority to propose the county budget, make appointments, hire a staff, set county board agendas, implement the majority of county ordinances and veto actions of the county board, although vetoes could be overridden with a three-fifths majority. The executive would also have the power to vote, but only in order to break a tie on issues before the county board.

The current County Executive laid out the duties of her office in a guest commentary to the News-Gazette here: Executive Branch | 'What does the County Executive Do?' Excerpt:

The most immediate and visible change of the new structure is that the executive assumed two tasks formerly done by the county board chairperson. The first is presiding over the monthly county board meetings, which are live-streamed at ustream.tv/channel/champco1776 and posted afterward on the county clerk’s YouTube channel (youtube.com/user/champaigncountyclerk). Not much has changed about county business, though, because action items still come to the full board through committees made up of and chaired by board members.

The second is making appointments to various boards and commissions — which, like the former board chair appointments, still require the confirmation of the full board. If you’re interested in learning more about appointments, head online to co.champaign.il.us. As you might expect with any change, there are details to negotiate, and getting anything done requires the executive and board to work together.

The executive represents the county on intergovernmental boards and committees, such as the Economic Development Corp., METCAD-211, the Central Illinois Land Bank Authority and the Willard Airport Advisory Board. Every week, I attend community meetings where I share information about county services, look for partnership opportunities and ways to leverage the county’s resources to better our communities.

More information at that full article available here.

Current incumbent information: previous election information at the County Executive office/election page